Austrian 'angel' donates €2.2m to English hospice

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A secret donation of €2.2 million was provided by a mysterious benefactor hailing from Austria to a hospice in High Wycombe.

The hospice, which looks after terminally ill patients, also provides services to sufferers of other incurable illnesses, lymphoedema and those with chronic illnesses.

It recently disclosed that it had received a donation of €2.2 million from a woman called "Sylvia", who was originally from Austria. She provided only her first name, and a photograph of herself as a little girl.

According to the Austrian daily Heute, a spokesman for the hospice said that "at first, there was no information about the benefactor. Then we got the name 'Sylvia', and later there appeared a picture of a little girl."

Finally, some five months after the donation was first made public, we learned more about the story behind the donation. Apparently, 'Sylvia' came from Austria long ago with her family to settle in High Wycombe. Her mother suffered from a long illness before she died. Sylvia thought it was important that people like her mother could receive end-of-life care in the area, and thus the donation will fund a new clinic.